Vegan Pumpkin Pecan Pie With A Spelt Crust

November 17, 2009Angela (Oh She Glows)

by Angela (Oh She Glows) on November 17, 2009

After I asked all of you to let me know what Thanksgiving recipe you wanted me to ‘veganize’, I was overwhelmed with requests to veganize the traditional pumpkin pie. I have always wanted to ante up for the challenge so I knew this was the perfect opportunity to give it a whirl.

Now if you have been following the blog for a while now, you know that I don’t tend to bake things the traditional way. I am always looking for ways to make traditional recipes healthier. Just because a pie crust is supposed to use white flour and shortening, doesn’t mean you can’t make a good one using spelt and milled flax!

So here is my take on vegan pumpkin pie….I hope you will enjoy it as much as we do!

Step 2: For the Crust: Whisk together dry ingredients until well mixed. Add in earth balance or oil and milk. Blend with an electric mixer just until dough comes together. Use your hands to form the dough into a ball.

Step 3: Take ball of dough and place it on a non-stick mat. This method is preferred because if you put it on a floured surface the dough may dry out a bit. However, you can still roll it out onto flour if that is your only option. It won’t make or break your crust by any means. Roll out the dough making the circumference a couple inches wider than the pie dish. The dough is quite sticky and it breaks easy so handle it as delicately as possible.

Step 4: Carefully roll the dough around the rolling pin and then unroll the dough over the pie pan. You may get a couple rips in the dough like I did. If this happens just patch them up with your fingers. Next, trim the edges of the crust with a pastry wheel or a knife. I also made small scores along the crust for a cool effect. Save the scraps to make decoration for the top of the pie.

Step 5: Take 1/2 cup pecans and 1 tablespoon maple syrup and mix in a small bowl. Spread mixture over the base of the pie crust. Set aside crust while you make the filling.

Step 6: Filling: Blend the silken tofu in a food processor until smooth, stopping often to scrape the sides of the processor. Once that is smooth, add pumpkin, sucanat, 1/4 cup maple syrup, vanilla, sea salt, and spices. Blend well. I also made a mini pie with leftover crust and filling (see below, step 8.)

Step 7: Pour the filling into the pie shell. Garnish with decorative shapes made using a knife or cookie cutters. I used a leaf cutter and a small Christmas tree cookie cutter. I have made the shapes by hand in the past, so you don’t need cutters to make it look good. Just some patience.

Step 8: Place in the oven and cook at 400F for 42-45 minutes. You may want to cover the pie crust carefully with tin foil for the last 10 minutes of baking as my pie crust got brown.

Step 9: Cool for at least 30-45 minutes and then enjoy with some non-dairy vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Isn’t it obvious? ;) I LOVED this vegan pumpkin pie. So much in fact that I prefer this one over the traditional pumpkin pies I have had in the past. I really love this pie crust that I made. It is down right delicious!! Pie crusts don’t come any healthier than this baby!! It is so wholesome and satisfying. It kicks white flour and shortening’s butt any day.

You probably won’t believe this, but it only took me a mere 30 minutes to prepare this pie! It was soooo unbelievably easy. This is only the third pie I have ever made, so if I can do it so can you!

Future modifications: Next time I would probably add a tablespoon or two of cornstarch as the filling was a bit soft for my liking. I would also toast the pecans before using next time.

Please let me know if you end up making it! :) It was just SO easy!!

What is your favourite pie flavour?

Mine has always been pumpkin by a landslide!

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Well, In case you couldn’t tell…the old Ange is back! :)

All it took last night was a good laugh (Eric pinned me down and tickled me!), vegan pumpkin pie, and some Gossip Girl. Thank you for all of your lovely comments and emails. :)

How funny – my husband had me crying laughing last night for a good 10 minutes (doing an impression of my mother in law, whom I love, but who on occasion drives both of us a bit crazy) and I hadn’t laughed like that in a good couple of months – I needed it!! I am going to try out some of this spelt flour for other recipes – it looks like a good alternative, even for wholemeal!

Wow! What a babe of a pie that is! I can’t wait to try it. I can imagine it would also be fantastic as a sweet potato or butternut squash pie. But first, I need to pay homage to the original and make this pie soon. You are a kitchen goddess!

The world can never have enough vegan pumpkin pie recipes! THANK YOU! There is nothing like a delicious slice of pumpkin pie, I haven’t had one in ages, I don’t know why…I don’t like to just save them for the holidays, they are definitely something that should be enjoyed all year round. LOVE this recipe, I can’t wait to give it a try.

YUMMM! Were you always such a good and creative baker? Every time I “get creative” with baking I BLOW it and end up throwing the whole batch of ____ away. I have to follow baking recipes exactly to get them right. Bah humbug!

Yummy! I will have to make this! My old, non-vegan recipe has pecans on th bottom too. I love that it’s sort of combining a pecan pie and a pumpkin pie – yummy!

I wish that I could figure out how to veganize my old recipes. I used to love to bake scones and biscuits – all osrots of breakfast items. I just need to experiment and channel your baking talent. Do you just guess at what would work (measurement-wise)?

Mo: There are a ton of great vegan baking books out there. Check out The Joy of Vegan Baking. I know it has a scone recipe (and I think a biscuit one, too). You can also just Google for vegan recipes. There are a lot out there!

Wow, this is seriously impressive!!! First of all, your crust looks phenomenal…not only is it super healthy, but it sounds delish and I love how it’s got a gorgeous speckled color! And I love how you added maple pecans! Absolutely brilliant! Thanks Angela, I’ll definitely be making this for Thanksgiving next week!

This looks so good, and I’m not even a fan of pumpkin. (I know, I know, call me crazy). But, I do think I will have to make this because everyone else in family loves pumpkin pie. I do have a question though, what is a substitute for buttermilk when a recipe calls for it?

That pie looks sooo good. I’ve tried a Tofu pumpkin pie with spelt crust from the local health foods store, and I wasn’t a fan. I’ll have to try yours out to compare. Maybe I can convince my family it’s a normal dairy and fatty pie on Turkey Day?! ;-)

for my birthday every single year I get pie, rather than icecream, because it was always easier for my mom to convert into sugar free and dairy free. so i LOVE saskatoon berry pie. But pumpkin and apple are both second, dont know which one i like more, so its a tie for second.

Wow, that pie looks yummy! Pecan pies are my fave, but I also like pumpkin pie, so the combination of the two is a must-try. BTW, love the new Glo bakery website. Very user-friendly and quick. Can’t wait for my order!

I am not vegan (or even vegetarian) but that looks amazing. I find it hard to get pumpkin – tinned or otherwise – and I have this one tin I’ve been holding onto for dear life – not to mention a bag of spelt flour just sittin’ there in the cupboard not doin’ much – so I may make myself a mini pie soon! The crust sounds brilliant.

I’ve been assigned the pumpkin pie for my family’s Thanksgiving meal this year, and I’m so excited to try this recipe! I love the challenge of something new, and although I’m not even vegetarian, I am definitely embracing the idea of being as healthy as I can be. Thanks for the recipe!

mmm, apple crisp pie with lots of crumbly topping! That would be my favorite. I make a whole wheat pastry crust and a soy-free dairy-free pumpkin pie that is delicious (recipe on my blog), but haven’t successfully made a dairy-free, soy-free, egg-free one yet! Still working on it.

I made this for thanksgiving, and i have to say, I think my mom and the rest of my carnivorous family was jealous that i made a fantastic pie from scratch! Everyone loved it. What are you doing for your Holiday dinner in December?! I want to impress my family again! haha

angela, i baked this for christmas and it was DELICIOUS! worked out fine even though i didn’t have cloves and used half maple syrup / half agave syrup. i only had a blender (not food processor) and extra-firm tofu but it was excellent nonetheless :)

Made this for Christmas! It was sooo good and yummy! The crust was very unique but I absolutely loved it. I used agave syrup instead of the maple syrup and a blender because I don’t have a food processor. Wow it was good. I’m only 16 and my friends are my age too (duh) and to have a 16 year old boy serve himself 3 slices of VEGAN pumpkin pie really means something! He was in shock when I told him it was Vegan! Thanks again! Can’t wait to try your other recipes

Delicious recipe! Although rather than using all purpose flour I justices more spelt flour and ground flaxseed. It’s delicious! Oh, I also use baked pumpkin as blend it so that it is my pumpkin filling. I use your measurements every time if make pumpkin pies!!!! Love it!!!! And house smells delicious afterwards! :) thanks for sharing! :)